July 06, 2011

Robots That Can Be Controlled From Orbit

Photo Credit: NASA

Robots have long been the pathfinders for the exploration of space. Surveyor landers went to the surface of the Moon to test out the surface before men walked on it. Mars has been host to a number of robotic explorers paving the way for future human landings there. Even when people finally get to orbit the Red Planet, they will probably want to send out robotic probes to test out the expected landing sites first. This technology might even find its way to planets or moons outside our solar system. To do this, the astronauts will need to control the robots from orbit. This is the purpose of a new rover being developed by the European Space Agency. Read the article at the link below for more details.

Experts with the European Space Agency (ESA) announce the creation of a new rover, which is meant to act as a testbed for a new remote-control technology. Astronauts in low-Earth orbit (LEO) will control the machine through specialized, exoskeleton-like ...